Speeches by Brandreth.

“Have all Ministers complied with that?”

“Thank you for giving us so much of your time. I want to clarify what you have said about the information that has already come through in the Humble Address and is expected still to come through. My understanding was that initially it was supposed to be provided by 10 April, but there is still further information to co…”

“Obviously, we have talked a bit about how accurate notes are required to be kept, although obviously not for every single conversation that happens. Will the Humble Address include notes or a minute on the Prime Minister’s decision to appoint Lord Mandelson to the position?”

“Thinking through where there might have been other political appointments into roles, it is quite unusual, obviously, to have political appointments, especially to such senior roles. We know, however, that for example Jonathan Powell is a political appointment as National Security Adviser, but he was also special envoy…”

“Okay, thank you. Q780 Fleur Anderson: I am going to ask you some questions about your document gathering, going back to the documents referring to the very early stages of the process, before the vetting and before the appointment. First, about the pre-appointment conversations that Morgan McSweeney may have held, woul…”

“As part of that? Or do you know why his appointment appears to have been made without saying that it was subject to security clearance?”

“As part of the Humble Address information, will there be any information that UKSV might have provided to Chris Wormald as part of his review into the vetting process?”

“In retrospect, with everything that we know now, do you regret granting security clearance for Lord Mandelson?”

“But is it fair to say that he did ask you?”

“Thank you for that answer. Yesterday the Prime Minister was asked by the right hon. Member for New Forest East, “Before sacking Oliver Robbins last week, did the Prime Minister ask him why he overruled the verdict of the security vetters, and if so, what was his explanation?” The Prime Minister replied, “I did ask him,…”

“Could there have been information from UKSV that would have changed your decision?”

“Okay. You were required to make the ultimate decision to grant or not grant security clearance. Given that, as you have said, the public announcement of Lord Mandelson’s appointment had already been made, in December ’24, before you took up the post, given that the White House had already confirmed it would accept, and…”

“But you say you regret that the announcement was made before security clearance was granted; yet, at the same time, you have said that it would make no difference to your decision to grant security clearance. What would you have done differently in that case? Is it that you would have then chosen to alert the Foreign S…”

“Before moving on to the main things I want to discuss, on the point that has just been talked about, when exactly were these conversations taking place?”

“Before moving on to the main things I want to discuss, on the point that has just been talked about, when exactly were these conversations taking place?”

“What was the reason, in your opinion, that it didn’t move forwards?”

“But is it fair to say that he did ask you?”

“If they had concluded the security vetting process, as was Simon Case’s recommendation, prior to formally making an announcement of the appointment, would that have changed the judgment that you made in terms of granting security clearance?”

“You say that you follow due process. Would you say that you would have made the same decision to grant clearance if it had been any other person being considered for ambassador? For example, if it had been a civil servant being considered rather than a political appointment, do you think you would have made the same ju…”

“We have talked a bit about the fact that the announcement was made prior to the security clearance being granted. If security clearance had been sought prior to the announcement of Lord Mandelson’s appointment, would that have changed the judgment you made in granting security clearance?”